Launch of Paryavaran Mitra in Jharkhand on Child Rights Day

Paryavaran Mitra was launched in Jharkhand on 20 November 2010 in a gala event celebrating Child Rights Day in Ranchi . The day each year marks the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly in 1959, and the Convention of the Rights of the Child, in 1989. Article 24 and 29 of the Declaration stress the importance of environment for securing child's health and educating them to conserve and respect the environment which is the essence of ‘Sustainable Development'.

The event was held at the Middle school, JET , Ranchi with the support of ArcelorMittal India Ltd., Centre for Environment Education (CEE), and organized by Bharatiya Kisan Sangh ( BKS ).

The programme was launched by His Excellency the Governor of Jharkhand, Shri M.O.H. Farook and Smt. Bimla Pradhan, Honorable Minister of Social Welfare, Dept. of Women & Child Development, Govt. of Jharkhand

Speaking on the occasion the Governor of Jharkhand said that the future belonged to children and that they could save the world if they were aware of the environment from an early age.

More than 2000 students from Jharkhand attended the event. The featured segment of the event was the Bal Mahapanchayat which had students asking questions about child rights issues to the dignitaries present on the stage, many of whom were from government departments.

The congregation of children also took the Paryavaran Mitra Oath by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam the Paryavaran Ambassador

Colourful performances of traditional dances from Jharkhand and some popular bollywood numbers performed by students and were thoroughly enjoyed by their peers.

Paryavaran Mitra is slated to cover more than 5000 schools in Jharkhand where all National Green Corps (NGC) schools in the state will be covered. This would be made possible by the partnership with Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board, which is the Nodal Agency for NGC in Jharkhand.

Popularising Low Carbon Lifestyles

CEE Delhi has developed a Low Carbon Lifestyles Toolkit which is a barometer of our attitudes and practices, and focuses on the efficient use of electricity, transportation, LPG, water, organic waste and paper. It is a set of material consisting of:

a) A message booklet ( http://www.ceeindia.org/cee/ pdf_files/Toolkit_English_final.pdf) on key low carbon practices derived from data from calculations.

b) A CD which has the following:

•  A set of excel sheet calculations and data showing details of human actions leading to mitigation of carbon emissions and the possible choices available. The booklet consists of key messages taken from this excel sheet calculation.

•  A set of powerpoint presentations on:

a. Climate Change-basics, impacts on India etc.

b. Low Carbon lifestyles in offices

c. Low Carbon lifestyles in homes

d. Low Carbon lifestyles in school

•  A street play on Climate Change

The Purpose of toolkit is to spread awareness and sensitivity among people regarding adopting low carbon practices for a sustainable lifestyle.

The Low Carbon Lifestyles Toolkit was launched by Smt. J. Sandhu, Chief Secretary, in State Level Children's Science Congress in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh on 14 November 2010.

Ms. Chetali Kapoor from CEE Delhi addressed the audience, comprising of students and teachers from all over the state of Himachal Pradesh, on the occasion and explained the importance of the toolkit as a resource for educators/trainers in spreading the message of Low Carbon lifestyles. The toolkit was also distributed to about 100 teachers of Himachal Pradesh present in the event.

Efforts are on to disseminate the toolkit far and wide to reach students, teachers, educators and any intereted individual willing to make a difference.

CEE joins the Mission for Intactness of Himalayan Ecosystems

The Directorate of Environment, Government of Uttar Pradesh is preparing UP's State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) with financial support from GTZ. An inception workshop was held at Lucknow on 24 November 2010 to launch the process. It was attended by senior UP Government officials heading the 8 missions of the proposed SAPCC on lines of India 's National Action Plan on Climate change. Leading scientists and experts from private sector, research institutions, academia and NGO's dealing with water, agriculture, forestry, energy, tourism, environment and wild life management, horticulture, health, science and technology were also invited on this occasion. Presentations were made and discussions held on status of study, data availability and their analysis with reference to SAPCC on water, agriculture, energy, socio-economic, forestry, health etc.

CEE has been nominated as a member of one of the missions Himalaya Paristhitiki Akshunta ( Mission for Intactness of Himalayan Ecosystem). Abdhesh Gangwar represented CEE for this mission that has been constituted by State Government of Uttar Pradesh with an objective to protect fragile ecosystems of Himalayan range from Climate Change. The State's mission is headed by Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh and the eight sectoral missions are headed by Principal Secretaries of the concerned departments. Draft SAPCC will be ready by April 2011. CEE is already a member of the advisory group of SAPCC and in the core group of the Mission for Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.

Training of Trainers on Climate Change Education and Natural Disasters Risk Reduction in Kashmir

A two-day Training of Trainers' Workshop on the theme “Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction” was held at Al Huda B.Ed. College, Pattan on 29 - 30 November 2010. Senior teachers, Head Masters, Vice Principals, Zonal and Cluster Resource Persons (ZRPs & CRPs) form Pattan Education zone were deputed for this workshop which had a primary focus on local climate change and disaster preparedness in schools as well as community level. Zonal Education Officer and Zonal Education Planning Officer of Pattan Education Zone also participated in the workshop on day one. The participants were provided an orientation to Climate change, including the science and issues.

The workshop had participation of senior representatives of Education Department who influence the state curriculum and are responsible for teachers' capacity building programmes.

A questionnaire was also designed to survey the understanding and opinion of participants about the local climate change. All the participants mentioned a decline in snowfall and irregular rains with higher summer temperatures. Some of them observed less water in the streams and rivers, and subsequent adverse impact on agricultural production.

Many of the participants belonged to District Resource Group (DRG) - an important district level apex body responsible for improving curriculum in science, mathematics and languages. Chairman, Principal and Lecturers of the host B.Ed. College also participated in this workshop.

Earth Charter for School Children

A National Green Corps & Paryavaran Mitra event at the Earth Charter+10 ‘Ethical Framework for a Sustainable World' International Conference

A two-day event was organized for students from five states (Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra , and Rajasthan) at the Earth Charter+10 ‘ Ethical Framework for a Sustainable World' International Conference. Schools invited were those featured in the 'Young in Green Action-Inspiring stories from the National Green Corps' publication celebrating a decade of the National Green Corp (NGC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The two-day workshop included of sessions for children on Earth Charter, discussions about sustainability, visits to nearby places/institutions, an exhibition by students showcasing their activities during the conference, painting sessions, and ample opportunity to mingle with national and international delegates at the conference.

At the ‘Understanding the Earth Charter' session students read the Earth Charter in Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati, and discussed a presentation on the Earth Charter principles children's version. This was followed by group work on issues of sustainability, along the lines of the Earth Charter, on cases of conflict situations between development and natural resource management. The session helped students think about natural resource conflict issues and come up with situations where development and nature co-exist.

Speaking about his experience Pratil Shukla a student from Government Girl's Middle School, Barwani Madhya Pradesh said that it was a new, encouraging, innovative, and enthusiastic experience for him at the conference, where he learnt how development can exist along side conservation to pave our future. Explaining his point he cited the example of CEE Ahmedabad where barren land has been converted to a beautiful forest which is home to biodiversity, and as well as offices.

The exhibition of exemplar eco-club projects done by the NGC schools attracted large number of national and international participants who appreciated the students' work.

A comment from another student sums up the final outcome of this event, After such a wonderful experience, I can say that as a student or a human being I promise that wherever I may be in future I will promote themes which provide us progress, but at the same time conserve our future .

ITI Energy Club Members visit Gujarat Science City

CEE is facilitating energy conservation in the selected Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) of Gujarat State through forming and supporting student led Energy Clubs in each of the 10 ITIs.

In November and December, the members of Energy Club of each of the 10 ITIs visited the Gujarat Science City with the objective to understand the many ways of generating power from renewable resource, to learn about power conservation and to familiarize themselves with best practices for energy utilization in daily life. At the Science City , the exhibits which became most popular among the students included the Electrodome and the Energy Park .

The visits were organized under the project titled ‘Energy Clubs in Industrial Training Institutes', being implemented by CEE in partnership with the Directorate of Employment and Training, Government of Gujarat, with Support from the USAID/South Asia Regional Initiative (SARI).

Over 300 Energy Club members and faculty visited the Science City with great enthusiasm.

NGC Meeting of District Co-ordinators

As a part of National Green Corps (NGC) a national programme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, CEE and GEER Foundation arranged the district coordinators meeting on 19 November 2010 at CEE. Mr. N.K. Nanda, Deputy Director, GEER Foundation, Mr. M V Patel, ACF were present as representatives of Nodal Agency in Gujarat

About 30 participants from all over Gujarat have attended the meeting including District Coordinators and Teachers.

The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss current status of activities in districts and plan for the coming year, synergize Paryavaran Mitra with NGC and also to discuss the strategy of implementing the programme in the state. Mr. N.K. Nanda, Deputy Director, GEER Foundation. He discussed status, issues and challenges of the programme. Presentation on Low Carbon Practices was shared by Mr. Shalin Shah of CEE with the main emphasis on climate change and its impacts and our responsibilities . One of the teachers Ms. Geeta Iyer, New Era School , Vadodara shared the activities of their eco-club named “Green Hands” activities. Paryavaran Mitra kit was given to all the participants of the meeting.

Zoo Keeper Training programmeat the Kamala Nehru Zoological Gardens, Ahmedabad

A ten day annual workshop for animal keepers on various issues and themes like education, animal husbandry, enrichment programmes, zoonotic diseases etc. is organized every year by Kamala Nehru Zoological Garden populary known as the Kankaria Zoo. This is in collaboration with the Central Zoo Authority. (CZA)

CEE is always invited to take session on ‘Role of Animal Keepers,as Interpreters and the importance of Making friends with Zoo visitors'.

A group of about 30 animal keepers from northern and western part of India participated in the workshop.

Few activities were conducted with the participants and various interesting discussions took place, which was followed by a question and answer session 

Sounds of the Jungle, an activity making them mimick some popular animal calls and then trying to identify their relevant partner was an ice-breaker activity. After having identified their partners, each one was to introduce their partner. This activity loosened up everyone and everyone enjoyed the activity.

The second activity – The team was divided into four groups, each group consisting about 6-7 animal keepers and each group was told to identify one conservation message/theme that they would want to communicate to the visitor, having a strong conservation message.

Discussions within each group

After deliberations and discussions within each group, each of the groups came up with vital and yet interesting messages targeted at the zoo visitor. They expressed their thoughts and ideas through the medium of charts. The charts were to be designed as signages that would be put up in the zoo.

It was very encouraging and enriching to see that the keepers who are closely interacting with the animals day in and day out are very passionate about their animals. They are equally concerned about how visitors behave in the zoo, and what should be some of the conservation messages targeted at the visitor

Many of them also make it a point to check the visitor if he/she is teasing the animals and make him/her understand why they souldn't to that and how it harms the animals.

Targetting the Zoo visitor - Charts with conservation messages

Some of the conservation messages were:
•  Avoid using plastic carry bags
•  Do not litter and take back your trash
•  Respect Mother Nature and all its creatures
Announcement

The Earth Care Award
For Excellence in Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation

The Earth Care Award Initiative invites application for demonstrating excellence in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The award is open for applications originating from India .

The present initiative of JSW and TOI with CEE as Knowledge Partner is a reflection of commitment to recognize, strengthen and foster initiatives on mitigation & adaptation , both at organization and individual level. The award currently in its third year reflects a long term commitment towards this objective. The award recognizes the need to strengthen initiatives for the benefit of our country.

One of the most encouraging aspects of the earlier editions of the award was the response from diverse sectors of industries, NGOs, community based organizations, Government institutes, showcasing their significant work on avoiding emissions and improving adaptation towards climate change. The present edition seeks to identify projects under its categories basically built on the technical framework indicated therein.

The categories are:

•  Greenhouse gas mitigation, in
•  Small and Medium enterprises
•  large scale industries
•  Community based mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Land use, Land use change & Forestry and Water resources sector
•  Innovations for climate protection

Last Date for receiving application: March 31 st , 2011

To apply, logon to www.earthcareawards.com / www.gogreenindia.co.in or write to [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]

CEE